The Choice: Sunscreen Protection or Allergic Reaction? #Review

A choice is a mental judgement made between two or more options. We make many choices over the course of a day. Some are simple, brainless decisions that don’t impact our life, like what to eat for breakfast and other decisions are complex, life changing decisions that warrant deep, careful thought (i.e. who you should marry). It is estimated that the average human makes over 600 decisions a day! As a Mom, I think this number doubles or even triples! How do you make important choices that affect your children or your family? Do you bounce ideas off a spouse? Do you research the concept until you are familiar with every aspect? Or do you rely on gut-feelings and faith?

The Problem:

With the summer sun bursting through my window, I struggle with a decisions about how to protect DS5 from the sun. He loves to play outside and he loves the sun, but unfortunately, most sunscreens on the market today don’t like him. Since the age of 6 months, every time I applied sunscreen to his body, DS5 would break out in hundreds of little red bumps. They appeared to be an eczema-like rash, however it would only last as long as the sunscreen remains on his skin. After X amount of time, when the sunscreen wore off, the rash would begis to disappear. It took me forever to Mommy-diagnosis this problem. At first, I thought it was something he ate that brought on the rash. then I thought it was heat rash resulting from playing in the summer heat. It wasn’t until I applied sunscreen one and we never made it outside (it rained) and the hives still appeared. I tried every sunscreen on the market and all the results were the same. Some sunscreens caused minor reactions (usually ones made for babies) and other would cause a more sever reaction (usually hypo allergenic ones…go figure!). Thus, after countless attempts at using sunscreen, I have drawn the conclusions that DS5 is allergic to sunscreen.

The Mommy Diagnosis:

A sunscreen allergy is very similar to allergic reactions from cosmetics, except they are often misdiagnosed or ignored. The reaction occurs when sunscreen is applied to the skin resulting in a rash like reaction, known as “photo-contact dermatitis” (About). This can occur as a result of an allergy to the active ingredients (i.e.Para-Aminobenzoic Acid (PABA), Benzophenones, Cinnamates, etc.) or to the fragrances and preservatives present in the product. Since DS5 hasn’t reacted to other creams and body washes that contain fragrances and preservatives, I am leaning towards DS5 having a reaction to the active ingredient.

Running out of sunscreens to test on him, I was left with the difficult choice of whether I was doing more harm them good by putting on sunscreen on him. While contemplating the choice to forgo sunscreen, I was presented with a chance to test another La Roche Posay product (see 1st review here): La Roche Posay Anthelios Dermo-Kids SPF45. Willing to try anything and having success with La Roche Posay products, I accepted the offer.

The Product:

La Roche Posay Anthelios Dermo-Kids SPF45 is a pediatric tested,fragrance-free,Paraben-free, water-resistant that was designed to be easily applied on the fragile skin of children while protecting the skin for damage from the sun.

The test:

Like with every new screen we’ve tested, I always do a trial test on the inside of his arm. I choose this location because it is visible (and I can watch the reaction change) and it seems to be a sensitive spot (rash usually shows up their first!). My first observation of the sunscreen was that it was very viscous. The first time, I poured it into my hand, it came out rather fast. I was worried that it was too runny to provide an effective barrier. Once I began rubbing the sunscreen in, I was impressed how thick it became on the skin. It provided a translucent white film to allowed coverage to begin melting into the skin. After a few minutes, you were left with a supple and dry finish. After 5 minutes, DS5 had no reaction. After 30 minutes, he was released into the sunshine where he played for an hour and reexamined. Still no reaction! I was very impressed by it coverage (no sunburns!) and its sustainability (it survived perspiration, swimming and water fights!). Again, La Roche Posay wins in our house! If you are allergic to sunscreen, have sensitive skin, or are just looking for a quality sunscreen that had good coverage, this is the one for you! It’s nice when a product can replace a difficult choice!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for review purposes. Regardless, I only recommend products or services, I use personally and believe would be good for my readers. All opinions expressed are my own.

Wow. I never met anyone else who knew of this product. My dermatologist mentioned it to me and had me get it form Canada a few years ago. Now the ingredients have been approved for America, so I can get it at CVS, La Roche-Posay is the only brand I have used for years! And, there was a coupon in yesterdays paper for it, I have never seen that!
Mitch

I have not heard of that brand but I will definitely check it out. Both my daughter and I suffer from allergies with anything topical. When all the kids gather for face painting – she cannot participate. I will definitely be getting some of this sunscreen!

I am so happy to see this! I have been using LaRoche-Posay sunscreen on my kids for the last three years and can’t say anything bad about it! I have always had issues with cheaper, drug store brands (I get that same rash) and I’ve never been able to pin-point WHAT bothers me. But this one doesn’t, so my kids get it too.

I’m so glad you were able to find a sunscreen that didn’t cause an allergic reaction! It has to be hard when you know you have to protect your little one from the sun, but every product causes such a reaction.